One Of Those Days
by IIangelofmusicII
Summary: Nami finally gets to have one of those days. Those days where she can look back. And remember. Set after Fishman Island. This is a One-Shot that started off as a drabble. Nami-centric.


A sign had been hung on the door of the woman's quarters. It was scrawled hastily in red, and read "Do Not Disturb!". At the bottom right corner of the page, it was signed 'Nami'. Sanji stood outside, debating whether or not he should risk the wrath of the mikan-head. His hand was raised to knock, when he heard a crash from the inside and the navigator screaming "Can't you read!?" before the rubber-brained captain came flying out the door. He scurried away in haste, having read the situation and deciding it was one of 'those' days. He had just stepped onto the deck when Luffy crashed into him, nearly knocking him into the ocean. "What is she so angry about?" he asked Sanji. The cook sighed before replying "It's one of 'those' days". "Oh. So it's like a mystery day!" The captain exclaimed, absolutely certain he had figured it out. Sanji pressed his hand to his forehead before trotting off towards the kitchen to prepare lunch.

oooooooooo

On the other side of the door, Nami was placing a protective mat on her writing desk before setting down several brightly covered bottles. She was finally allowed to take a day off, and she would make the most of it. They had hit a calm spot in the New World, and her assistance wasn't required in deck. She didn't know when such an occasion would arise again, so she decided to allow herself a day of pampering. Before that rubber-brained captain had come barging in, she had finished her face mask and was now onto her manicure. This was the most delicate, but satisfying part of her little 'spa day'. She examined her rough hands, and tried to think back on how each little injury had happened. On her left pinky was a scratch from the blunt edge of one of Zoro's swords.

OOOOO

"Didn't I tell you to be more careful?!" She screamed at the Marimo, panicking at the the sight of the long gouge that ran down her finger. Okay, maybe not a gouge, it was more of a scratch, but still! It was bleeding! "Geez! I already said I'm sorry! It's not such a big deal anyways! It'll heal in what, a week?"  
>"Ugh!" Nami screamed, as she stormed off to find Chopper. "That's what you get when you walk in on me during practice!" Zoro yelled after her.<p>

OOOOO

She studied the scratch, carefully rubbing in some ointment on the mark that was so close to fading. The swordsman had been right. In fact, even more so than he thought. The mark had faded to a thin, pale, line in 3 days thanks to Chopper working his magic. She sighed and moved on to her left middle finger, where a burn resided from trying to make some tea on Sanji's stove.

OOOOO

"Aye!" she yelped, dropping the steaming kettle. She had rested her hand on the hot metal to guide the boiling stream of water to her cup. Only to forget that the metal, was in fact, hot. "What happened!" yelled Sanji, bursting through the door. "Are you ok, Nami-Swan? Do you require my assistance?" He then noticed the steaming puddle of water that stemmed from the now leaking kettle. "Oh no!" He exclaimed, scooping Nami into his arms. "Quick! To the infirmary!" He shouted, elated at the chance to finally be a lady's knight in shining armour. As he rushed her to Choppers office, Nami screamed at him to put her down the entire way.

OOOOO

She studied the red-black mark which had lightened considerably since she got it 1 month ago. She applied the paste Chopper had given her and moved on to the black mark on her thumb nail. She winced at the memory of how it had come about.

OOOOO

She had been sunning herself on the deck when Franky asked her to take over the steering for a second. She readily agreed, and took up the wheel. As soon as her fingers touched the wooden grip, a storm had erupted. Waves crashed and as Nami's strength wasn't *ahem* her strength, the wheel went crazy. By accident, during the chaos, she had jammed her thumb right between where the peg and the wheel met. It probably would have been worse, if not for the fact that the storm stopped just as her nail split halfway down the middle.

OOOOO

She looked at the blackened part of her thumb. The incident had been months ago, and her split nail had grown out, but the black still remained. Much to her unhappiness, Chopper informed her that the darkened nail was purely cosmetic, and would grow out. All he could do for her was speed up the growth with some serum. She sighed and continued on to the indent that was in the shape of a rope on her right index finger.

OOOOO

A typhoon had appeared out of nowhere, and everyone was scrambling to get to their positions. As it happened, everyone mixed up their positions, and Nami ended up with the job of hoisting the sail, while the direction-less Zoro ended up steering the ship. 'Dear Kami... As if we didn't have enough to deal with, now the stupid Marimo is gonna get us _all_ lost!' she thought, as she gripped the cord, not even realizing that the coarse rope was digging marks into her flesh. *

OOOOO

She actually smiled at the memory. Even through all the confusion, she had still managed to help the crew in a way she thought would never be possible. Granted, Robin was helping her, and her numerous arms did hold up much of the weight of the sail, but nevertheless she felt proud. She examined the last of her numerous marks. It resided on her knuckles, an ugly, red, raw line running through the mountains and valleys of her hands. This was the one she hated the most, because she had received it through desperation.

OOOOO

"NO!" She screamed, pounding at the stone door. "No!" She cried, her voice weaker. "No..." She whispered, collapsing against the door, tears streaming down her face. Her head was parallel with the ground, and her left ear was crushed by the weight of her head. The tears dribbled from her right eye to the bridge of her nose to her left cheek to the ground. She looked pathetic, but she didn't care. She wanted them back. Needed them back. Her vision flickered thrice before she blacked out.

OOOOO

She shuddered. Her body felt cold. She abandoned the table to swing the door open and hop out onto the deck. She let the warm rays of the sun caress her face before realizing she had just burst into the middle of one of Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp's fishing competitions. Not wanting to look like a fool, she coughed before muttering "Tea..." and trotted towards the kitchen where she knew she would find Sanji.

ooooooooo

A few sugar cubes and a pitcher of milk later, she was once again settled at her desk. The tea had warmed her right up, and filled her mind with happy thoughts. 'Must be one of the new recipes from Kamabakka Kingdom' she thought, as she selected an orange-coloured bottle from her collection. She unscrewed the top and wiped the brush on the opening of the bottle to remove the excess polish. In long, meticulous strokes, she covered the area of each nail before moving on to the next. As she did this, she regarded each mark on her hands with a sense of pride. Happiness. Disgust. Anger. These marks represented her. The experiences she's had. The choices she made. The things she's gone through. They reminded her of how she's living her life. And in a way, that made them kinda special. She finished up, and rose from her desk to finally meet the new challenges that had been awaiting her.

* Funny story:

My friend is a baseball player, and he once got hit in the face by a baseball. The pitcher had thrown so hard, that when the ball bonked him in the forehead, it left the mark of all the stitches. He walked around with baseball stitches indented on his forehead for 6 months. So yes, this can actually happen to someone.


End file.
